10 Strategies for Higher-Level Questioning

Six months into my MBA, and I have to confess it took me a little while to adjust. My previous level seven ‘senior leadership’ qualification was more practical, as were my level five diplomas. The most significant difference I’ve seen between the MBA and my BA -the last real academic course I’d taken- is the level of rigour you need to apply to the course materials. Previous courses required a more passive absorption and application of materials, with a particular focus in my level seven on reflective application of ideas and concepts. The MBA requires a more active interrogation of data and reading materials. It’s forced me into considering how I can evaluate the architecture of arguments; the validity of a writer’s argument; and the argument’s applicability to the real world.
Based on my own reflections and feedback from tutors, as well as reading around what is expected at this level, here are ten strategies I’ve developed to ensure higher-level questioning:

1. Interrogating the Methodology. This means not just accepting a paper's findings. At this level you need to ask how robust the research design is, and whether the data collection methods support the author's conclusions.
2. Challenging the Context. Context is everything in research. A lot of the materials I read relate to multi-national corporations, or industries in which shareholder profit is considered the primary motive. Institutions such as the NHS are run differently, and even in the English residential childcare sector I believe that profit should be the by-product of great care rather than the driving motive. An example question could be, 'would these findings from a high-growth tech startup hold true in a heavily regulated, risk-averse sector?'
3. Challenging the relevance. Theories evolve, and the best-written papers from only a few years ago may not be so relevant today. Ask what assumptions the model is built upon, and if they are still valid today?
4. Look for the gaps. What variables is the paper ignoring, and which stakeholder perspectives (e.g., frontline staff, service users) are absent?
5. Synthesising Competing Perspectives. Move beyond comparing authors. What tensions are there between different theories? How might the tensions between them create a new framework for understanding or addressing the issue?
6. Stress-Testing. Frameworks often look perfect on paper. How will they hold up under an operational crisis or differing resource constraints?
7. Assessing the Practical Utility. A neat theory rarely means a perfectly usable tool. Can the framework be easily translated into practice, or does it require an unrealistic level of systemic change?
8. Analysing the Longitudinal Impacts. Short-term wins can mask (or even result in) long-term failures. Use second- and third-tier thinking to ask what the unintended consequences of implementing a strategy could be over the next three/five/seven year period.
9. Questioning Success: Challenge how the author defines a 'good' outcome. What perspective does this come from? Are they measuring true improvement or compliance with their identified targets? Are these targets relevant to you and your organisation? What are the costs and wider impacts of achieving these targets?
10. Synthesising the broad view: Wrexham provides an online library, which offers more online resources than I can list via linked institutions. Google Scholar is also a fantastic resource.  Academic studies in the 2020’s feels vastly different than it did in the early 2000’s! This means that I have access to so much more information than I did then, and therefore the opportunity/obligation to compare what I’ve found to a wider background. So it follows that I’m able to view papers holistically - either to determine consensus (for assignments) or to identify gaps in research (for my literature review).

This rigour, for me, is not just an academic abstract. Any manager who has received more than one referral paper leading to a child moving in to their home learns quickly to ask, “but what are they not telling me? What is the context for the child’s behaviours, and how will our home be different for them?’’. This approach takes that to another level. The skills are transferable to everyday life, especially when looking at business from a strategic point of view. I’m currently very interested in the impact of Wales’ decision to remove profit from children’s care, and the impact on the sector as a whole; and also on the conversations developing around this topic in England. There are lots of discussions and opinions floating around, some much more informed than others, and viewing them through this lens throws new light on what is being said, what is not being said, and why.
My MBA is a 24-month programme. I’m six months in, as I said, and I can’t wait to start my dissertation.

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